For Some App Developers Palm & Nokia Are No-Gos

You know the saying, “If you build it, they will come”? Well that certainly holds true for GPS functionality and mobile phones. Nearly 48 percent of the mobile app developers surveyed by Boston-based Skyhook Wireless said that location is what “sets their app apart, or is a core component to their app.” And nearly 46 percent said location increases the value of an app — and that they wouldn’t have developed an app without it.

When asked if they would re-write their applications for a platform other than the one they currently support, nearly 56 percent said yes. Google’s Android ranks highest in terms of interest — a whopping 58 percent of non-Android developers plan to port to that platform, while 40 percent of non-iPhone developers plan to port an app to the iPhone platform. In comparison, 26 percent will port to RIM and 20 percent to Windows Mobile. When it comes to the platforms of Palm and Nokia’s Symbian, however, those numbers drop to just 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively.